The guys are joined by former Chicago Bears linebacker Dante Jones who brings his perspective on what the Bears need to do this offseason and they discuss the Matt Nagy and Ryan Pace pressers!
The post Keepin It 100 – Special Guest Former Chicago Bears Linebacker Dante Jones first appeared on CHI CITY SPORTS l Chicago Sports Blog – News – Forum – Fans – Rumors.Read More
It’s been quite a wild ride for the Windy City.
When does a town become a city? For Chicago, that was exactly 184 years ago, when the state of Illinois officially gave it the bump to city status using the exact language you’d expect from a law written in 1837: “That the district of country in the county of Cook in the state aforesaid … shall hereafter be known by the name of city.”
Similar to how this anniversary doesn’t matter much to anyone outside of Chicago today, it wasn’t a big deal across the country back then. Martin Van Buren was sworn in as the United States’ eighth president on the same day, which dominated national headlines. And unlike the Midwest metropolis it is now, the newly anointed city of Chicago had a population of just 4,500 at the time.
What Chicago did have at the time was tons of prairie land ideally placed between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Great engineering innovations helped overcome critical challenges including sewage and clean water. (You really don’t want those two things to mix.)
Still, those early decades brought big challenges before the city could reach its potential, including…
But those challenges taught the city critical lessons that helped it grow, improve and thrive. Chicago’s massive water-related government projects informed how many other U.S. cities would provide those resources. The steel- and stone-heavy structures built in place of the wood buildings destroyed in the Great Fire set the stage for other modern cities embracing similar materials.
So it’s fair to say that Chicago has a lot to celebrate on its 184th birthday today. Make sure to wish it a happy one!
A version of this story was originally published March 4, 2020.
Happy 184th birthday, Chicago!Satchel Priceon March 4, 2021 at 4:20 pm Read More »
The shooting involved an officer of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. It did not involve Chicago police.
A South Shore Line officer shot and critically wounded an unruly passenger he was trying to remove from a train Thursday morning at the Hegewisch station.
An officer of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, which operates the South Shore Line, was called to a conductor who said a passenger was being verbally aggressive, according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department, which is investigating the shooting.
As the officer tried to remove the 33-year-old passenger from the train, the passenger became “physically aggressive and a struggle ensued,” at which point the officer shot the passenger in his abdomen, police said.
The passenger was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where he was listed in critical condition, Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said.
The officer was taken to a hospital for a facial injury, police said. He was in good condition at Trinity Hospital, Langford said.
One gunshot was fired in the incident, according to NICTD President Mike Nolan. The shooting happened on train number 114, which arrived about 8:30 a.m. at the Hegewisch station, 13730 S Brainerd Ave., he said.
The NICTD, based in Michigan City, Indiana, runs South Shore Line trains between Millennium Station in the Loop and the South Bend Airport.
Chicago police asked anyone with tips, images or video to contact Area Two detectives at (312) 747-8271 or online at CPDTIP.com.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims rose by 9,000 from the previous week.
WASHINGTON — The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits edged higher last week to 745,000, a sign that many employers continue to cut jobs despite a drop in confirmed viral infections and evidence that the overall economy is improving.
Thursday’s report from the Labor Department showed that jobless claims rose by 9,000 from the previous week. Though the pace of layoffs has eased since the year began, they remain high by historical standards. Before the virus flattened the U.S. economy a year ago, applications for unemployment aid had never topped 700,000 in any week, even during the Great Recession.
All told, 4.3 million Americans are receiving traditional state unemployment benefits. Counting supplemental federal unemployment programs that were established to soften the economic damage from the virus, an estimated 18 million people are collecting some form of jobless aid.
In Texas, applications for benefits surged by nearly 18,000 in Texas in the aftermath of freezing weather and power outages. And jobless claims rose by more than 17,000 in Ohio, where the weekly totals have been thrown off by potentially fraudulent claims.
Restrictions on businesses and the reluctance of many Americans to shop, travel, dine out or attend mass events have weighed persistently on the job market. Job growth averaged a meager 29,000 a month from November through January, and the nation still has nearly 10 million fewer jobs than it did in February 2020. Though the unemployment rate was 6.3% in January, a broader measure that includes people who have given up on their job searches is closer to 10%.
“The source of all labor market damage continues to be COVID-19,” said AnnElizabeth Konkel, economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab. “Increased vaccine distribution is promising, since the public health situation must improve for there to be a full economic recovery. When we completely return to ‘normal’ is still unknown.”
The data firm Womply reports that 64% of movie theaters and other entertainment venues, 40% of bars and 34% of hair salons and beauty shops are closed. And on Wednesday, the Federal Reserve reported that across the country, “overall conditions in the leisure and hospitality sector continued to be restrained by ongoing COVID-19 restrictions.”
On Friday, though, economists have forecast that the government will report a strong job gain for February of near 200,000, which would raise hopes that layoffs will slow. Optimism is rising that increasing vaccinations and a new federal rescue aid package that will likely be enacted soon will spur growth and hiring in the coming months. Many analysts foresee the economy expanding at an annual rate of at least 5 percent in the current quarter and 7 percent for all of 2021.
Already, crucial sectors of the economy are showing signs of picking up as vaccinations increase, federal aid spreads through the economy and the Fed’s low-rate policies fuel borrowing and spending. Last month, America’s consumers bounced back from months of retrenchment to step up their spending by 2.4% — the sharpest increase in seven months and a sign that the economy may be poised to sustain a recovery.
The solid gain suggested that many people were growing more confident about spending, especially after receiving $600 checks that went to most adults early this year in a federal economic aid package. Additional relief is likely for American households and businesses as Congress considers President Joe Biden’s proposal for a new aid package amounting to $1.9 trillion.
At the same time, rising bond yields in the financial markets are pointing to worries that higher inflation could be on the way as the economy recovers. This week, Lael Brainard, a member of the Fed’s Board of Governors, sought to calm investors by stressing that the Fed, while generally optimistic in its outlook, is still a long way off from raising interest rates or otherwise lessening its support for the economy.
Despite the shocking violence the day before, protesters returned to the streets Thursday to denounce the military’s Feb. 1 takeover — and were met again with tear gas.
YANGON, Myanmar — Footage of a brutal crackdown on protests against a coup in Myanmar unleashed outrage and calls for a stronger international response Thursday, a day after 38 people were killed. Videos showed security forces shooting a person at point-blank range and chasing down and savagely beating demonstrators.
Despite the shocking violence the day before, protesters returned to the streets Thursday to denounce the military’s Feb. 1 takeover — and were met again with tear gas.
The international response to the coup has so far been fitful, but a flood of videos shared online showing security forces brutally targeting protesters and other civilians led to calls for more action. The United States called the images appalling, the U.N. human rights chief said it was time to “end the military’s stranglehold over democracy in Myanmar,” and the world body’s independent expert on human rights in the country urged the Security Council to watch the videos before meeting Friday to discuss the crisis.
The coup reversed years of slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, which for five decades had languished under strict military rule that led to international isolation and sanctions. As the generals loosened their grip in recent years, the international community lifted most sanctions and poured in investment.
U.N. special envoy for Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, described Wednesday as “the bloodiest day” since the takeover, when the military ousted the elected government of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. More than 50 civilians, mostly peaceful protesters, are confirmed to have been killed by police and soldiers since then, including the 38 she said died Wednesday.
”I saw today very disturbing video clips,” said Schraner Burgener, speaking to reporters at the U.N. in New York via video link from Switzerland. “One was police beating a volunteer medical crew. They were not armed. Another video clip showed a protester was taken away by police and they shot him from very near, maybe only one meter. He didn’t resist to his arrest, and it seems that he died on the street.”
She appeared to be referring to a video shared on social media that begins with a group of security forces following a civilian, who they seem to have just pulled out of a building. A shot rings out, and the person falls. After the person briefly raises their head, two of the troops drag the person down the street by the arms.
In other footage, about two dozen security forces, some with their firearms drawn, chase two people wearing the construction helmets donned by many protesters down a street. When they catch up to the people, they repeatedly beat them with rods and kick them. One of the officers is filming the scene on his cell phone.
In yet another video, several police officers repeatedly kick and hit a person with rods, while the person cowers on the ground, hands over their head. Officers move in and out of the frame, getting a few kicks in and then casually walking away.
While some countries have imposed or threatened to impose sanctions following the coup, others, including those neighboring Myanmar, have been more hesitant in their response. The sheer volume of violent images shared Wednesday, along with the high death toll, raised hopes that the dynamic could change.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet on Thursday urged all of those with “information and influence” to hold military leaders to account.
“This is the moment to turn the tables towards justice and end the military’s stranglehold over democracy in Myanmar,” she said.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the U.S. was “appalled” at the “horrific violence,” and the U.N.’s independent expert on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the “systematic brutality of the military junta is once again on horrific display.”
“I urge members of the UN Security Council to view the photos/videos of the shocking violence being unleashed on peaceful protesters before meeting,” he said on Twitter.
The Security Council has scheduled closed-door consultations for Friday on calls to reverse the coup — including from U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — and stop the escalating crackdown.
But Justine Chambers, the associate director of the Myanmar Research Center at the Australian National University, said that while the graphic images would no doubt lead to strong condemnations — action on Myanmar would be harder.
“Unfortunately I don’t think the brutality caught on camera is going to change much,” she said. “I think domestic audiences around the world don’t have much of an appetite for stronger action, i.e. intervention, given the current state of the pandemic and associated economic issues.”
Any kind of coordinated action at the U.N. will be difficult since two permanent members of the Security Council, China and Russia, would almost certainly veto it.
Even if the council did take action, U.N. envoy Schraner Burgener cautioned it might not make much of a difference. She said she warned Myanmar’s army that the world’s nations and the Security Council “might take huge strong measures.”
“And the answer was, ‘We are used to sanctions and we survived those sanctions in the past,’” she said. When she also warned that Myanmar would become isolated, Schraner Burgener said, “the answer was, ‘We have to learn to walk with only a few friends.’”
Wednesday’s highest death toll was in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, where an estimated 18 people died. Video at a hospital in the city showed grieving relatives collecting the blood-soaked bodies of family members. Some relatives sobbed uncontrollably, while others looked in shock at the scene around them.
Protesters gathered again Thursday in Yangon. Police again used tear gas to try to disperse the crowds, while demonstrators again set up barriers across major roads.
Protests also continued in Mandalay, where three people were reported killed Wednesday. A formation of five fighter planes flew over the city on Thursday morning in what appeared to be a show of force.
Protesters in the city flashed the three-fingered salute that is a symbol of defiance as they rode their motorbikes to follow a funeral procession for Kyal Sin, also known by her Chinese name Deng Jia Xi, a university student who was shot dead as she attended a demonstration the day before.
As part of the crackdown, security forces have also arrested well over a thousand people, including journalists, according to the independent Assistance Association for Political Prisoners. On Saturday, at least eight journalists, including Thein Zaw of The Associated Press, were detained. He and several other members of the media have been charged with violating a public safety law that could see them imprisoned for up to three years.
“Ideas that are seen as progressive, modern, or radical always have these associations that come from the West,” said Senyawa vocalist Rully Shabara in a February interview with Reader contributor Joshua Minsoo Kim for his online music zine Tone Glow. “But is that true?” Shabara, 38, and instrument inventor Wukir Suryadi, 43, founded this Indonesian duo in 2010, and when I first wrote about them in 2014, I said their largely improvised music “combines the ancient gravity of a firelit ritual and the electric futurism of the avant-garde.” Senyawa know they aren’t engaged in a mass-market enterprise, so their artistic practice foregrounds collaboration, decentralization, and mutual support.…Read More
Julio Rubio-Gonzalez has been charged with a felony count of first-degree murder.
A 19-year-old Portage Park man was charged in a fatal shooting in December in Mayfair on the Northwest Side.
Julio Rubio-Gonzalez faces a count of first-degree murder in the Dec. 17, 2020, shooting of 19-year-old Carlos Cruz, Chicago police said.
About 12:50 p.m., Cruz was walking his dog in the 4000 block of West Wilson Avenue, when someone in a stolen white Nissan Maxima fired shots, striking him multiple times in the body, police said. He died at Illinois Masonic Medical Center.
The stolen Nissan was found several blocks away in the 4400 block of North LaCrosse Avenue, and officers located the person of interest even farther west in the 4300 block of North Major Avenue, police said.
Rubio-Gonzalez was arrested about 12:45 p.m. Tuesday in the 5500 block of West Grand Avenue, after being identified as someone involved with the shooting, police said.
He was due in bond court Thursday.
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It’s been quite a wild ride for the Windy City.
When does a town become a city? For Chicago, that was exactly 184 years ago, when the state of Illinois officially gave it the bump to city status using the exact language you’d expect from a law written in 1837: “That the district of country in the county of Cook in the state aforesaid … shall hereafter be known by the name of city.”
Similar to how this anniversary doesn’t matter much to anyone outside of Chicago today, it wasn’t a big deal across the country back then. Martin Van Buren was sworn in as the United States’ eighth president on the same day, which dominated national headlines. And unlike the Midwest metropolis it is now, the newly anointed city of Chicago had a population of just 4,500 at the time.
What Chicago did have at the time was tons of prairie land ideally placed between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. Great engineering innovations helped overcome critical challenges including sewage and clean water. (You really don’t want those two things to mix.)
Still, those early decades brought big challenges before the city could reach its potential, including…
But those challenges taught the city critical lessons that helped it grow, improve and thrive. Chicago’s massive water-related government projects informed how many other U.S. cities would provide those resources. The steel- and stone-heavy structures built in place of the wood buildings destroyed in the Great Fire set the stage for other modern cities embracing similar materials.
So it’s fair to say that Chicago has a lot to celebrate on its 184th birthday today. Make sure to wish it a happy one!
A version of this story was originally published March 4, 2020.
Happy 184th birthday, Chicago!Satchel Priceon March 4, 2021 at 1:42 pm Read More »
The teen was arrested Wednesday after Chicago police said he was identified as a shooter in the April 10, 2019, murder of Ismael Moore and Terrell James Haggins.
A 17-year-old boy has been charged as the third gunman in a deadly shooting from 2019 in the East Garfield Park neighborhood.
The teen was arrested Wednesday after Chicago police said he was identified as a shooter in the April 10, 2019, murders of Ismael Moore and Terrell James Haggins.
LaDarius Howard and Cornelius Valentine were arrested and charged with murder last August in the shooting.
The trio allegedly exited a car and opened fire at a group on the corner of the 600 block of North St. Louis Avenue.
Moore, 19, who was with the group on the corner, was immediately shot and fell to the ground, prosecutors said then. A third gunman walked up to Moore and shot him several more time. Haggins, 17, died on Ohio Street, authorities said. Another person was wounded.
The teen, who’s name wasn’t released by police, was expected in court Thursday on a two murder charges, an attempted murder charge and a count of aggravated battery.
The shooting involved an officer of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. It did not involve Chicago police.
A man was in critical condition after being shot Thursday by a South Shore Line officer at the Hegewisch station on the Far South Side, according to the Chicago Fire Department.
The shooting, which involved an officer of the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, happened about 8:30 a.m. at 13730 S Brainerd Ave., according to fire department spokesman Larry Langford.
The shooting did not involve the Chicago Police Department, he said. The circumstances of the shooting were not released.
The officer, who was not shot, was taken to Trinity Hospital for an unspecified injury, Langford said. He was listed in good condition.
The man who was shot, in his 30s, was taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his abdomen, Langford said.
A representative for the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District did not immediately return a request for information.
The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, based in Michigan City, Indiana, runs South Shore Line trains between Millennium Station in the Loop and the South Bend Airport.
